Freight-transfer station and warehouse.



B. r. men. FREIGHI TRANSFER STATION AND WAREHOUSE.

' APPLICATION FILED SEPT- I. I9]?- 1,261,504. I rammed Apr. 2,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- B. F. FITCH.

FREIGHT TRANSFER STATION AND WAREHOUSE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- I917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Apr. 2,1918.

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BENJAMIN r. FITCH, or EvANsToN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR To THE MOTOR TERMINALS COMPANY, or CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION or 01110.

FREIGHT-TRANSFER sTATIoN' AND WAREHOUSE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Original application filed February 12 1917, Seria1 No. 148,075. Divided and this application filed Septembe 1, 1917. Serial N0. 189,410.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. FITCH,

1o. drawings.

My prior application,-No. 148,075, filed February 12, 1917, of which this is a division, shows, describes and claims a transfer system for freight terminals wherein the various terminal stations in a given territory are coordinated with one or more automo-- bile trucks adapted to travel .between the different stations, and a set of interchangeable bodies are provided adapted to be supported at any of the stations alon side of the platform and receive the freigh arriving in cars and then be de osited bodily on a truck and transported by it over city streets to another station. Such a system enables freight arriving at any terminal or transfer point to be immediately trucked across the platform into various removable motor truck bodies, assigned to various destination points, such bodies, when loaded, being moved by trolley hoists onto awaiting trucks, and at once moved without delay to the destination station.

A feature of the system referred to isthat one or more destination stations may be provided comparatively distant from a railway track and used in the most convenient city location for delivering or receiving package freight.

at their outer sides runways for the wagons Such an off-'- I track or inland term1nal-provides a short or trucks of shippers or consignees, while the space between the platforms is utilized by the transfer trucks and their removable bodies. Suitable hoisting and transporting mechanism is provided over this space adapted to remove the bodies from incoming trucks and support such bodies adjacent to the ed e of the platform and, when loaded, redeposit them on a truck. The ware-house is preferably located above the platforms, and an elevator is provided for lifting the removable bodies to higher floors for storage. Other features of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof.

In the drawings, Figure. 1 is a vertical section through an off-track terminal and ware-house responding to this invention. Fig. 2 1s a side elevation on a larger scale .of an automobile transfer truck w th a re movable body, showing also, in end elevation, a pair of trolley hoists for raising and transporting the body. Fig. 3 is a view at" platforms are preferably made .on theirouter sides in a saw-tooth form arrange'dto accommodate a large number of vehicles which. drive in a definite direction in the teamtr'ackways and are backed into sawtoothed bays. These bays preferably incline in the general direction of trafiic, .and pro- Patented Apr. 2, 1918.

' an automobile runway 12,

vide platform space coextensive with both the side and the end of the vehicle enabling ready loading or unloading at the rear or side of the vehicle, or both. Examples of vehicles in the unloading and loading positions are indicated respectively. at 15 and 16 in Fig. 4.

Extending across the automobile runway 12 are shown numerous I-beams 18 arrangedinairs. Each of these I-beams' may carry a ual hoist 19, which is adapted to raise and shift removable truck bodies 20, any of a I raenaoa ,form, and others at 18 as extending still farther across the platform and supported by an additional girder 25.

Each removable body 20 has points of 15 support 27 at its opposite-sides near the ends-conveniently in the form of eyes to which hooks 28 on the lower ends of the hoist chains *inay be engaged. The bodies are also provided with wheels 30 and 31 at 20 their bases.

The construction described enables any of the bodies to be readily supported by the four lift chains, of two dual hoists, and either suspended adjacent to the edge of the at p llahtform or .trolleyed over on the platform.

en, on the platform, the body maybereadily rolled thereon by manual means or by asuitable tractor.

When the off-track terminal above de-.

so scribed is combined with a storage warehouse above'it, ll prefer to make such storage ware-house of a plurality of stories and rovide one or more elevators, so that when reight is received from other stations and 85 the consignee is not ready to receive it a removable body may simply be rolled onto one of the elevators, as indlcated at 35 and raised to another floor as 36 for storage.

This ware-house is shown as provided with no inclosing walls 37 and as'having a number of floors, indicated at 36, anda suitable roof 38-. The building may be made as many stories high as desired.

The greatdesirability of using in a city one or more ofi'-track terminals of the char acter described will be apparent from the following considerations. Railroads in the past have invested enormous sums for rights of wayand terminal realty in all large cities, to to provide frei ht stations located as conveniently for shippers as the topography and arrangement of the city would allow. This has been with a view to providing a short haul from the shipper to the railroad terminal. One result, however, has been to make the territory inthe immediate vicinity; so valuable that the railroad cannot afi'ord to expand at that terminal, when congestion demands it. The resultant high price of the 80 adjacent land has also driven manufacturers and ,others to seek locations in outlyingter- 'ritory. By my system of off-track terminals the railroad may expand as much as necessary without either acquiring expensive as realty adjacent to its own terminals or pur chasing an expensive right of way in a city to a new terminal. They may simply employ rail transfer platforms at existing stations and locate: the ofi-track terminals where most convenient. Furthermore, myofitrack terminals may be at locations where grades, expensive intervening buildings or other conditions make it practically impossible for a railroad track to be laid.

In the. operation of the off-track terminal shown in Figs. 1 and 4, it is proposedthat the outbound platform 10 have empty bodies suspended on its hoists next to the inner edge or truck driveway for the full length of the platform the floors of these bodies being on the platform level. As the wagons with freight to be shipped enter the team trackway 13, in the direction of the arrows, they can back withthe leastpossible delay into empty saw-tooth pockets and unload their freight, which may be hand-trucked, as indicated by the direction lines17 in Fig. 4, direct to the bodies assigned to the difl'erent freight stations comprised within the system.

In the meantime, at various railroad track terminals, freight arriving from freight cars has been installed in removable bodies which are loaded and hauled to the ofitrack terminal. Now, as the loaded truck enters the central portion 12 of the off-tracksterminal shown, 1t proceeds to some location opposite a point where no removable body is suspended ad'acent to the inbound platform 11. The chains of the overhead hoists are then hooked onto the body which is on the truck and the same is moved to the edge of the inbound platform for unloading, and a loaded body is shifted laterally from the outbound platform over the truck, and the latter" proceeds to the railway terminal des ignated by the billin of the freight contained in the newly=p aced body.

Now, the consignors wagon or truck 15 which has discharged its load in a saw-tooth 10 pocket of the outbound platform, may drive out of the station and follow the line of traflic and enter the team traffic way 14, back up into one of the pockets'of the'inbound platform, as indicated at 16, and re ceive freight destined for such consignee.

Whenever freight received at the off track terminal cannot be conveniently received by the consignee, the body it 00011-- ies, or another body to which it is transerred, is simply raised to the platform, rolled onthe platform to the elevator, and stored until the consignee is ready to receive the freight. In the normal operation of my off-track terminal the newly received bodies, after being unloaded at the. inbound platform, will be simply trolleyed across to the outbound platform to receive a fresh load. However, as may often occur, the unloading process at the inbound platform will not balancein time duration. with the loading at the outbound platform. This difference is readily relieved by rolling the empty bodies along the inboundplatform beneath available pairs of I-beams, by which they may be trolleyed over against the outbound platform.

While the present invention is not concerned with the specific construction of dual hoist or removable body employed, it may be stated that each dual hoist may conveniently be constructed according to the manner of a plication No. 151,883, filed March 2, 1917, y Edward Y. Moore, Such is the construction shown in Figs. 2 and 3 hereof,

3 From this hook depends achain 47 provided at its lower end with a hook 48 adapted to extend into the side eyes 27 of the removhand chain 62.

able body 20. The trolley frame 40 is supported by suitable wheels 55 riding on the flang s of the I-beams 18. Any suitable means (indicated by the wheel 156 on one of the trolleys) may operate mechanism to.

shift the trolley hoist in and out as a unit. 60 indicates a suitable power mechanism for rotating the shaft 42. This power mechanism has adrive shaft on which is a hand wheel 61 adapted to be driven by a suitable Mechanism, not shown, within the casing 60 reduces the speed and increases tlle power of rotation. The driven 'shaft is connected by a suitable coupling 64 with the sha ft-42. I

The mechanism described enables the .ar

"riving truck to be driveninto place ber neath the trolley hoists and four -hooks, 4;8. positioned in the four eyes 27 of the body,

and then thebody raisedfree from the truck frameand trolleyed to the proper platform or onto the inboundfplatformi) as. desired.

Similarly the trolley hoists'ena le the placing of loaded bodies on empty trucks. By having two, independently operating dual hoists, eachf hoist itself operating as a unit,-

it follows'that either end of the body may I be raised without transverse tipping and may be readily transported laterally; The independence of the two dual hoists enables convenient engagement of the-body ithout requiring the truck to be accurately parallel with the edge of the platform.

The removable bodies 20 may be of any approved form. They may, for instance, be specifically constructed, as shownm'ore fully in my patent application heretofore 'mentioned. Briefly the body may have removable slatted slides and a removable end. The supporting wheels at the base of the body conveniently comprise two wheels 30 on stationary transverse axes adjacent to the transverse center at the opposite sides, and two casters 31 adjacent to the longitudinal center at the opposite ends. The truck frame 31 is provided with suitable means for receiving and positioning the removable body.

' Having thus described my invention, what 7 I claim is:

1. The combination of a pair of elevated platforms spaced apart to provide a vehicle space between them, there being, vehicle spaces on. the outer sides of the two plat:v forms, the' outer edges of the platforms being ,of a saw -tooth form providing bays which on one side incline in one direction and on the other side incline in the opposite direction.

2. The combination of a pair of elevated platforms spaced apart to provide a vehicle space between them, there being vehicle spaces on the outer sides of the two platforms, the outer ed es of the platforms being of a saw-tooth orm and the inner'edges being straight and continuous, and; hoisting and transporting mechanism associated with the intermediate space and adapted to transport removable bodies of trucks to or from the inner edge of either plat form.

mechanism adapted to support such bodies and lift them from a truck frame and shift them laterally into cooperation with either platform. I a

4. The combination of a pair of elevated platforms spaced apart to provide a vehicle space between them, there being vehicle spaces on the outer sides of the two platforms, the outer edges of the platforms being :of. a saw-tooth form providing bays which onone side incline in one direction and on the other side incline in the opposite direction and the inner edges being strai ht and continuous, and trolley hoisting mec anisin associated with the intermediate. space and adapted to transport removable bodies of trucks to or from the inner edge of either platform or onto one of the platforms.

5'. The combination of a pair of elevated platforms spaced apart to provide a vehicle space between them, there being vehicle" bodies of trucks to ,or from the inner edge of either platform,

6. The combinatlon of a pair of separated platforms, vehicle spaces on the outer sides of the'platfprms, a vehicle space between the platforms, trolley trackways overhanging the intermediate vehicle space, a set of removable bodies adapted to be suspended by said trackways adjacent to the inner edge of either platform, and a truck adapted to convey said removable bodies to or from the station, 7 a 7. The combination of a pair of separated platforms, vehicle spaces on the-outer sides of the platforms, a vehicle space-between the platforms, trolley trackways above the immediate vehicle space, said trackways overhanging one of the platforms, trolley hoists on said trackways, a set of removable bodies adapted to be suspended by said hoists adjacent to the inner edge of either platform or moved onto one of them, and a truck adapted to convey saidremovable bodies to or from the station. I

8. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a pair of sep earated platforms having vehicle spaceson their opposite sides,- a space between the' latforms for trucks, a set of removable odies for such trucks, and. mechanism adapted to hoist and transport said removable bodies.

9. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a pair of separated parallel platforms having vehicle spaces on their opposite sides, a space between the platforms for trucks, a set of removable bodies for such-trucks, and a hoisting mechanism cotiperating with the remov able bodies adjacent to such space and adapted to hoist them from the trucks, and

' transport them laterally to the, inner edge nism, a warehouse above the plat orm, and means for ralslng removable bodies from the platform to the upper stories of the warehouse. a

' 11. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a, latform, vehic'le run-' .ways on opposite .sides thereof, hoisting mechanism on one side of the platform, a

set of removable bodies adapted to besupported by said hoisting mechanism, transfer truck adapted to receive any of said bodies,

a storage warehouse above the platfprm, and an elevator rising from the platform.

12. The combination of a pair of platforms separated by a vehicle spaceand having vehicle spaces on their opposite sides,

'13. The combination of menace hoisting mechanism" cooperating. with the intermediate space, a plurality of removable truck bodies adapted to be raised and transported by said trolley hoisting mechanism, a truck for said truck bodies, a warehouse surmounting the platforms and intermediate space, and an elevator to the upper floors of the warehouse. f v

d a pair of separated platforms, vehicle' spaces on the outer sides of the platforms, avehicle space between the platforms, trolley trackways overhanging the intermediate vehicle' space, a set of removable bodies adapted to be suspended by said trackways adjacent to the inner edge of either platform, a truck adapted to convey said removable bodies to or from the station, a' warehouse'surmounting the platforms and intermediate space, and means for raising a loaded body to the upper stories of the warehouse. 1

14;. The combination of a pair of elevated platforms spaced apart to provide a vehicle space between them, there being vehicle spaces on the outer sides of the two platforms, hoist'. 1g and transporting mechanism associated with the intermediate space and adapted to transport removable bodies of 7 for raising a loaded removable body to the upper stories of said warehouse.

15. The combination of a pair of elevated platforms spaced apart to provide a vehicle space between them, there being vehicle spaces on the outer sides of the two platforms and the inner edges being straight and continuous, and trolley hoisting mechanism associated with the intermediate space and adapted to transport removable bodies of trucks-to or from the inner edge ofeither platform or onto .one of the platforms, a storagewarehouse above thelatter platform and an elevator from the latter: platform to the upper stories ofisaid warehouse.

7 16. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination offa. pair of elevated'plat form's having vehicle spaces at their outer edges-and a space between them adapted to accommodate automobile trucks, a set. of removable bodies for such trucks, trolley trackways, above the intermediate space and overhanging one of the platforms, trolley hoisting mechanism on said trackways adapted to. support the removable bodies and lift them from atruck 'frame and shift them laterally onto one of the platforms, a storage warehouse above the two plat forms and the various vehicle spaces, and an elevator leading from the platform over- '17 The combination of an-elevated. platT form, vehicle runways at the opposite edges hung by the trackways to the upper stories of the warehouse. v i

thereof, a plurality of removable truck bodies provided with rollers adapted to support them, hoisting mechanism adapted to suspend said bodies adjacent to one edge of the platform or shift them onto the platform, a storage warehouse above the platform, and means for elevating loaded bodies from the platform to the upper stories of themovable bodies therefor, hoisting mecha-. nism adapted to support said bodies adja-- cent to one edge of the platform or move them over the platform, said bodies having rollers by which they may be conveniently rolled on the platform, a storage warehouse having a plurality of stories, and an elevator leading from the platform to the upper stories.

19. The combination of an elevated platform having vehicle runways at its opposite edgesfa set of trolley trackways arranged in pairs over one of said runways and overhanging the platform, a storagewarehouse above said platform, an elevator rising from the platform to the upper stories of the Warehouse, and a set of removable vehicle bodies adapted to be suspended by hoists on the trolley trackways adjacent to the plat form edge or moved onto the platform, each body being provided with supporting rollers.

20. The combination of a pair of elevated platforms spaced apart to provide a vehicle space between them, there being vehicle spaces on the outer sides of the two platforms, an automobile truck, a set of removable bodies provided With supporting rollers, trolley hoisting and transporting mechanism associated with the intermediate space and adapted to transport said removable bodies of trucks to or from the inner edge of either platform oronto one of the platforms, astorage warehouse above theplatform and intervening space, and an elevator from one of the platforms to the upper stories of said warehouse, said elevator having a supporting surface adapted to register with the platform.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature.

BENJAMIN F. FITCH. 

